Despite housing uptick, rental pool will continue to grow

Are you an investor looking to rehab a run-down house? Or, are you a member of a group ready to sink money into an apartment building? New data shows you'll have plenty of future customers.

Between now and 2015, Freddie Mac's Multifamily Research Group forecasts that there will be 1.7 million new multifamily renters due to the sluggish economy, high foreclosure rates, changing demographics, and the struggle of qualified homebuyers.

Meanwhile, since 2007, the single-family rental market also has grown, increasing 16 percent since that time and signaling that rental demand is popular across housing types.

"The research supports the optimism that currently pervades the multifamily market," says David Brickman, senior vice president of Freddie Mac's multifamily group. "It confirms that multifamily is a bright spot in the real estate market and the economy more broadly, and it will likely continue to shine for quite some time."